Apparatus for suctioning external air of clothes dryer

Abstract

An apparatus for suctioning external air of a clothes dryer, comprises a housing provided at one side with a suction port for introducing external air; a fan installed at the housing and generating a suction force for sucking external air while being rotated; a driving motor driving the fan; a guide duct guiding the external air introduced from the suction port to a condenser; and a grille installed at a predetermined gap from one side face of the housing where the suction port is to be installed so that a channel can be formed between the grille and the one side face and comprised of a plurality of grille plates extending in a direction lengthwise of the grille, one widthwise ends of the grille plates being bent toward the suction port. Accordingly, the apparatus has advantages such as a decrease in flow resistance, an improvement of a condensing effect and a decrease of vibration and noise by setting the flow amount and flow velocity of a cooling air to be suctioned in the best condition.

1 . An apparatus for suctioning external air of a clothes dryer, comprising: 
 a housing provided at one side with a suction port for introducing external air;    a fan installed at the housing and generating a suction force for sucking external air while being rotated;    a driving motor driving the fan;    a guide duct guiding the external air introduced from the suction port to a condenser; and    a grille installed at a predetermined gap from one side face of the housing where the suction port is to be installed so that a channel can be formed between the grille and the one side face and comprised of a plurality of grille plates extending in a direction lengthwise of the grille,    one widthwise ends of the grille plates being bent toward the suction port.    
   
   
       2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of grille plates are sequentially arranged with a slope from the vertical axis of the grille.  
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein each of the grille plates is divided into a first portion and a second portion by a bent line for bending the grille plates, the first portion and the second portion being formed with a slope so that the widthwise ends thereof face the suction port.  
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein each surface of the first and second portions, facing the suction port are formed in a curved shape.  
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the second portion has a width about one halves of the width of the second portion.  
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein both opposite ends of the respective grille plates are formed as a flat surface parallel to the horizontal axis of the grille.  
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein a gap between the grille plate on the outermost periphery of the plurality of grille plates and the housing is sealed.  
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein a length of the channel in a direction lengthwise of the grille is substantially the same as a length of the grille.  
   
   
       9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein an angle formed between a line drawn from the widthwise end of the first portion of one of the plurality of grill plates to the widthwise end of the second portion of another grill plate adjacent to the grille plate and a line parallel to the horizontal axis of the grille is less than 30°; and 
 angles at which each second portion of the plurality of grille plates is inclined relative to the horizontal axis of the grille are the same to each other.    
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein an angle formed between a line drawn from the widthwise end of the first portion of one of the plurality of grill plates to the widthwise end of the second portion of another grill plate adjacent to the grille plate and a line parallel to the horizontal axis of the grille is in a range of 30° to 50°; and 
 angles at which each second portion of the plurality of grille plates is inclined relative to the horizontal axis of the grille are different from each other.    
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein a length of the channel in a direction lengthwise of the grille is smaller than a length of the grille.  
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein an angle formed between a line drawn from the widthwise end of the first portion of one of the plurality of grill plates to the widthwise end of the second portion of another grill plate adjacent to the grille plate and a line parallel to the horizontal axis of the grille is in a range of 30° to 50°; and 
 angles at which the second portions of the plurality of grille plates are inclined relative to the horizontal axis of the grille are different from each other.    
   
   
       13 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a guide unit having a curvature of a predetermined angle is formed between the suction port and the grille so as to smoothly introduce air introduced from the grille toward the suction port.